Immunological response vaccine

Pain at the injection site is one of the most commonly reported adverse effects of vaccination. The reaction is usually mild with complaints of pain and tenderness at the injection site that may or may not be accompanied by erythema. Local reactions tend to be more frequent with repeated doses or booster doses of vaccine. The frequency and degree of the reactions appear to be related to the amount of preformed antibodies and rapid immunologic responses reflective of priming from previous doses. More serious Arthus reactions are infrequently reported. Arthus reactions are classified as type III hypersensitivity reactions, and are characterized by a massive local response involving the entire thigh or deltoid. Arthus reactions are also related to preformed antibody complexes that induce an inflammatory lesion.14... 

An alternative approach to the production of subunit vaccines entails their direct chemical synthesis. Peptides identical in sequence to short stretches of pathogen-derived polypeptide antigens can be easily and economically synthesized. The feasibility of this approach was first verified in the 1960s, when a hexapeptide purified from the enzymatic digest of tobacco mosaic virus was found to confer limited immunological protection against subsequent administration of the intact virus. (The hexapeptide hapten was initially coupled to bovine serum albumin, used as a carrier to ensure an immunological response.)... 

The advantages of attenuated vaccines are (1) they have a low cost of preparation, (2) they elicit the desired immunological response, and (3) normally a single dose is sufficient. The disadvantages are (1) a potential to revert to virulence and (2) a limited shelf life. 

Similar synthetic vaccines have also been constructed which confer immunological protection against bacterial toxins, including diphtheria and cholera toxins. While coupling to a carrier is generally required to elicit an immunological response, some carriers are inappropriate due to their ability to elicit a hypersensitive reaction, particularly when repeat injections are undertaken. Such difficulties can be avoided by judicious choice of carrier. Often a carrier normally used for vaccination is itself used, e.g. tetanus toxoid has been used as a carrier for peptides derived from influenza haemagglutinin and Plasmodium falciparum. 

Most vaccine vectors developed to date are viral-based, with poxviruses, picornaviruses and adenoviruses being used most. In general, such recombinant viral vectors elicit both strong humoral and cell-mediated immunity. The immunological response (particularly the cell-mediated response) to subunit vaccines is often less pronounced. 

It is evident that currently vaccine research is a vigorous and developing topic but a number of goals remain elusive. For example, an ideal vaccine should elicit the required immunological response against specified pathogens, whether it requires a specialized delivery system or adjuvants. This entails comparison of the requirements for an ideal vaccine, with progress to date. 

Inadequate immunologic response to concomitant live oral typhoid vaccine... 

Anti-HBc IgM is the earliest immunological response of the body to HBV antigens. It is the most reliable marker, and once the disease is overcome, it can probably be demonstrated lifelong as anti-HBc IgG. In chronic hepatitis B carriers, low titre anti-HBc IgG may also be present. It is the most suitable marker for the HBV contamination rate of a population (more reliable than anti-HBs). The absence of HBsAg and anti-HBc IgM rules out acute HBV infection. In healthy patients who test positive for anti-HBc, latent viral replication is usually still to be found. This can be detected with the help of PCR. Active vaccination does not result in positive anti-HBc IgM. (s. p. 114)... 

Organisms of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) commonly cause disseminated bacterial infection among patients with AIDS. There is evidence that immunoprophylaxis against MAC infection may be possible. A heat-killed Mycobacterium vaccae vaccine was given in a three-dose schedule to 12 HIV-infected adults with CD4 cell counts below 300 x 10 /1 (107). The vaccine was well tolerated and produced detectable immunological responses in 3 of 11 subjects who completed the trial. 

Considering their relative simplicity of production and the low toxicity, this pattern of immunological response was generally acceptable in the absence of better vaccines and is acceptable now only for vaccines used to protect the elderly from pneumonia or high risk groups over short periods, for example during epidemics. 

Immunologicals are all medicines which are either allergens defined cis products used to identify or provoke a specific modification to acquire an immunological response to an antiallergic agent, or vaccines, toxins or sera defined as all agents used to provoke an active or passive immunity to diagnose the state of immunity. 

Westwood A, Elvin SJ, Healey GD, et al. Immunological responses after immunisation of mice with microparticles containing antigen and single stranded RNA (polyu-ridylic acid). Vaccine. 2006 24 1736-1743. 

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